Method of treating bagasse and product thereof.



a amas r'ATENT OFFICE.

MARK W. MABSDEN, 0F PHILADELPHIA; PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'IO SUGAR CANE BY-PRODUC'IS 00., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELA METHOD OF TREATING BAG-AS515 AND PRODUCT THEREOF.

Patented Feb. 1,1916.

'- warm.

1,170 481 Specification of Letters latent. at Drawing. Application filed March 10, 1914. Serial No. 823,699.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARK \Voasxor Mausmzx, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Treating Ba 'asse and Products Thereof, of which the followin is a specification.

ugar-cane from which bagasse 18 derived is a species of grass the stalks of which hard and contain much silica.

4 silica 0.20. The average sometimes attain a. height of fifteen feet or-v more with a diameter ofone and a half t o two inches. The stalks are divided into prominent joints or internodes and as these ripenthe leaves wither and fall away and the stems become externally smooth and An average sample ofvTahiti cane, at maturity, contains water 71.04, sugar 18.00, hgneous tissue and cellular matter with pectin 9.56, albumen, coloring matter and insoluble salts 1.20, and production 18 about twenty tons per acre.

Bagasse is the term applied to the cane in its crushed state after the expression of the su ar juices. It is employed principally as fueI and as a cattle food although it-has been suggested and a number of attempts have been made to recover its fiber for the manufacture of paper and the like.

Ba asse is too valuable to be employed as a uel.and as a. food, for cattle especially since it serves these'purposes rather indifferently than otherwise. One ton of bagasse when properly treated will yield 80 allons of acetone oil, 350 )ounds of fertiizer, and 400 pounds of her; or by another treatment 125 gallons of alcohol, 550 pounds of fertilizer, and 400 pounds of fiber. Unquestionably bagasse is possessed of a large store of fiber, but so far no method has been advanced for commercially, that is to say economically and otherwise successfully, treating it for the recovery of the same.

In trying out the methods heretofore suggested and in experimentin along other and original lines I have iscovered that the failure was primarily due and predicated on the fact that the bagasse was treated either in its green, moist state, or after it had at least in part rotted. When it leaves the sugar refinery it is in a crushed damp mass, containing as it does 10 to 15 per cent. of moisture, about 1% to 3-} per cent. of sugar and saccharin, together with coloring matter and other soluble bodies, and being naturally in a warm climate the mass soon ferments and sours, generating the uice remainder into an acid, and when treated, as heretofore, for the recovery of the fiber the reagents will attack the fiber to such an extent as to render it commercially valuelcss. The desideratum, therefore, is to obviate this rotting or fermenting of the stock. Accordingly mv invention consists in overcoming this difiiculty, and in other steps, and in the product of the method, all as hereinafter described and finally claimed.

In practising the invention, the ba asse is first subjected to the action of dry heat to evaporate or otherwise dispel the moisture content. This may be accomplished, for example, in an oven or a heated revolving cylinder, or by any other suitable drier. This treatment is essentially slow and deliberate to avoid caramelizing and burning or charring. The duration of treatment will depend in a measure on the amount of moisture content, but at any rate the treatment is continued until the ba asse is thoroughly dehydrated, desiccated, or dried. It is then cut into uniform lengths of 5, to 1!; inches, and may thereupon be treated for the recovery of its fiber or baled for shipment or storage and future treatment.

In proceeding for the recovery of the fiber, the stock having been prepared as above described is hydrolyzed or washed with water in order to remove or dissolve the soluble matters.- This action may be accelerated by the application of heat and to a greater extent by the application of steam at a pressure of from ten to twenty-five pounds, more or less; and this treatment with heat, moisture and pressure is maintained for a period raiwing from two to five hoursor until all of title soluble matters are in solution. The fluid is then drawn oil and expressed from the stock and treated in any suitable way for the recovery of the valuable extractive. In order to insure the thorough removal of the extractive or soluble elements further washing may be resorted to. In this state, that is to say, deprived of all the extractive matter the stock is ready for the next step or reduction treatment to dissolve the lignin or in crusting matter and to free the fibers from each other. This may be accomplished b treating the stock in a suitable dig-ester wit 1 a dilute alkali or sulfid solution. The urpose of this treatment is to separate an recover the fiber in its natural strength and oi suiiicient length to readily mat when subjected to the usual and we l-known methods of treatment for the production of paper. I find that the best results are obtained by continuing this treatment from two to five hours under a steam pressure of thirty to sixty pounds, more or less. When this treatment ias served its pur ose, that is to say, when' the fiber is freed o silica and incrustin'g matter and disintegrated so to speak, the stock is removed from the bath which may then or subsequently be treated in any well known manner for the recovery of the chemicals which may be used over again thus eilccting a further economy. The stock or pulg is then washed to eliminate all trace of the nth, whereupon it is ready for the beating engine, and subse uently for bleaching or coloring and such ot ier treatments as are incident to the art of making paper or paper board, and the like.

The product of this method is characterizedby its-clean, lon strong and flexible fiber, which will not eteriorate with age or ordinary use, and will make an excellent quality of newspaper. I have also obtained good results by combining this fiber with the her or fibers of other materials and my invention includes this step as. well as the product thereof.

Having described the natureand object of the invention what I claim as new and desire impasse for the recovery of its industrial va es, which consists in subjecting it to the action of dry heat at a regulated tempera- Copiu 0! this patent may be obtained for ture to evaporate its natural moisture content.

4. The herein-described method of treating bagasse, which consists in dehydrating it, dissolving and removing the extractive, and reducing the stock to useful fiber.

5. The herein-described method of treating bagasse, which consists in thoroughly drying it to prevent fermentation and decay, dissolving and recovering the extractive, and reducing the stock to useful fiber.

6. The herein-described method of treating bagasse, which consists in drying it by the application of heat at a temperature suilicient to evaporate the natural moisture con tent, subjecting the dried stock in pieces of substantially uniform length a) suitable treatment to eliminate the extractive, and thereafter subjecting it to suitable treatment for the recovery of the fiber in its natural stren th.

7. The herein-described method of treating ba asse, which consists in drying it Ry the app ication of heat at a temperature su cient to eva )orate the natural moisture content, and su i ecting the dried stock to suitable treatmcnt for the manufacture of a er. p The herein-described method of treating bagasse, which consists in subjeetin the stock to dry distillation, subjecting the ried bagasse in regulated lengths to suitable treatment with heat, moisture and pressure to dissolve the extractive, washing the stock to remove all evidence of the extractive, and thereafter subjecting it to the action of reagents in the presence of heat, moisture and pressure to eliminate the incrustmg matter and silica and recover the fiber in useful form.

9. Paper consisting of the product of bagasse or sugar cane mitially eva orated to dryness and then treated with reagents to remove the extractive, incrusting matter and silica.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARK W. MARSDEN.

Witnesses:

FRANK Sanasm, E. W. STRAIN.

iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0." 

